


How did Charlie steal Christmas

by QueenC



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Mall Workers, Awkward Flirting, Chalex Holiday Exchange 2020, Enemies to Lovers, Holiday Themes, M/M, Santa's Elves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28442805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenC/pseuds/QueenC
Summary: Alex never thought one day he would be working at the mall during the holidays — and as a mall elf, of all things, to his absolute horror. But he needed the cash, so he swallowed his complaints and soldiered on.He didn't expect to meet a very cute guy during training. He expected even less said cute guy was such a pain in the ass.(Said-cute-guy was intent on changing Alex's mind, though, and he was nothing if not persistent.)((OR: the late holiday fic where Chalex wears elf costumes and there's awkward flirting all around))
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, Jessica Davis & Alex Standall, Tyler Down & Alex Standall
Comments: 26
Kudos: 147
Collections: Chalex Holiday Exchange 2020





	1. For starters, there was training

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mirambella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirambella/gifts).



> I am so late with this, I was meant to post it on the 26th but life got completely in the way AND out of my control this entire month of December. I'm sorry this is coming out so late, but I hope you guys appreciate it anyways.
> 
> This fic is for Irene! It was a pleasure to write Chalex in these settings, and it was an idea I wouldn't have thought of if your request hadn't prompted me to it. I really hope you like this story <3
> 
> A heads up: in this story, they're all college students living far away from home.

It all started way before Christmas.

Alex wasn't thrilled he'd let himself be convinced to get a temp job at such a hectic time of the year. Especially not at the mall. Especially, especially not as one of Santa's Helpers. The elf costume and the dealing with the kids aside, it was still too many people to socialize with every day, and he wasn't one to be known for his extroversion.

Also, you could hardly count Alex as a big fan of Christmas. He didn't hate the holidays or anything of the sort — he actually had some very fond memories of Christmastime from when he was younger. But as he grew up, he started to realize the increasingly materialistic aspect the celebrations had acquired over the years, a perception that was only strengthened after he dove right into the humanities when he entered college. So it was safe to say that, currently, Alex mostly felt quite unimpressed by the yearly festivities.

(On top of all that, and probably his strongest reason to oppose to the idea so fiercely, Peter had worked as a mall elf to make some cash while he was in college, and Alex had mocked him mercilessly every year because of that. He wasn't very eager now to let his brother in on the fact it was his turn to do play elf.)

But Tyler had asked and then insisted, and finally flat out begged — and full honesty, Alex could use the extra income. Studying far from home meant it wasn't always easy to make ends meet. His family didn't come from money, and Alex tried his best not to have to rely on their support too heavily. As much as he despised the capitalist meaning Christmas currently embodied, he would be a fool to deny it was the perfect opportunity to make some savings.

Being far away also meant Alex wouldn't make it to his hometown to spend Christmas with his family this year, a situation his housemates, Jessica and Tyler, also shared. They had decided to order a stuffed turkey online to have their own small celebration on the 25th, and videocall their families from their apartment while drinking eggnog and unwrapping gifts.

Their shared situation, by the way, was also what had prompted Tyler into his mission of making Christmas elves out of his two housemates. 

“Come on, guys, I don't wanna do this alone. We're not going home for the holidays, anyway,” Tyler had reasoned at the end of October, when he first saw the hiring ad _PUT A SMILE ON A CHILD'S FACE THIS CHRISTMAS!!!!!_ at one of the university notice boards. “And the hours are flexible. We could do it without getting in the way of our classes or other jobs.”

“Ty, I get that for you it must sound like a great opportunity,” started Alex, eyebrows raised at his friend's insistence. “You love Christmas, and you like children, and by applying as a photographer, you'll get the chance to put your skills to good use. I get it, it's the whole package. But for us,” Alex waved impatiently between himself and Jessica, trying to get his point across (for what felt like the millionth time), “it doesn't have that much appeal.”

“There's the extra cash, you know,” countered Tyler immediately. “We could all use it.”

He was at it for the third time that week. Alex was still firmly holding his ground but Jessica's wall of defense was starting to crack. 

“I'm not gonna lie, every time you say _extra cash_ , the idea sounds a little better,” she admitted, looking deep in thought. 

Alex sighed. Without Jess on his side, he knew it would be a matter of time before Tyler got through to them. 

And the thing is, even if both his friends had decided to do it, Alex still could have said no. He still could have stayed out of this nonsense. But Jessica was right, and the closer the day to pay the rent became, the more reasonable it sounded to sign up for a few weeks of being a mall elf in exchange for more money at the end of the month. 

So that's how mid-November found Alex, Jessica, and Tyler in training to be Santa's Helpers at the mall that Christmas. Their elven journey would start the day after Thanksgiving, even if Santa himself wouldn't show his beardy face until early December. It was pretty unfair, in Alex's opinion. The old man got to be the star of the show but his minions — _his elves_ — were the ones who worked the harder.

“You will be the ones responsible to assist Santa in anything he needs,” said their prissy supervisor on their first day of training. His name was Clay, and he quickly let you know he wasn't here for any of your funny business. He had elves to manage (those were actual words coming from his actual mouth, and Alex wasn't sure if he was impressed or just perplexed). “Aside from that, you have your daily tasks, which include organizing the line for the pictures, giving out candy, calming the kids in distress if need be. And it will be,” he warned, raised eyebrows meaningful and serious. “Whenever there's a high concentration of children in one place, someone's hair will be pulled. Mark my words.”

“Jesus, Clay, you're scaring the newbies,” said his brother Justin, amused. He clapped one hand on Clay's shoulder and took over from there, probably knowing his brother too well to let him do the welcome-talk all on his own. “It'll all be alright, guys. We'll be giving you all the instructions you need over this next week of training. We'll also have some emergency simulations, to prepare you for any unexpected situations you may find yourselves in. And you can always ask us anything if you have doubts.” Justin waved at the back of the room, a big grin washing over his face. “We also have some war dogs here, who've been working with us for a few years now, you can ask them about their previous experiences too. Charlie, Luke, I hope you guys don't mind.”

“We don't mind at all, boss,” said a deep, booming voice, and all heads turned around to look at a tall, blond guy that stood closer to the wall. He also had a grin on his face and, seriously, when Alex said tall, he meant _tall_. “Any advice you guys need, I'm Luke. And this is Charlie,” he nodded his head to the guy who stood by his side and clasped one hand on his shoulder with enough force to make his knees buckle slightly. Charlie threw him an amused but not surprised glare, and waved distractedly to his new coworkers. “This is our third year working as Santa's Helpers at this mall. We've got this elfing thing all sorted out.”

Some people laughed, others frowned, but ultimately everyone turned around to look at Justin and Clay again as they kept on explaining how their next weeks were going to be. But Alex's eyes stayed glued at the back of the room. Not on Luke, though — on the other guy, Charlie, who leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest as he watched their supervisors go on about their program.

He looked _good_ , with an aura of self-confidence emanating from his manners that easily had one's attention drawn to him. He was also very well dressed for someone who needed to give a temp job a go, which intrigued Alex the most — but it was his smile that hooked Alex from the start. The curve of his mouth had Alex's lips tilting upwards at the corners in response without him even realizing it. 

Alex's first thought was who the fuck submits themselves to be a mall elf not only once but three times in a row, Jesus. His second thought was what could he ask Charlie about the job that sounded interested but not dumb, curious but not eager, important but not obvious. He'd just been given a very good excuse to talk to that cute guy and he wasn't about to waste it. 

His third thought was 'fuck, I can't believe I'll find myself a crush in the middle of _this_ job' but when Charlie's eyes met his from across the room — a slight wrinkle between his delicate eyebrows at the needling feeling of being watched — Alex could say with about 90% accuracy that yeah, there was a crush coming his way.

* * *

By the end of their training week, Alex wasn't so sure anymore.

For starters, Charlie was one of those people. Yeah, one of those who managed to be positive and cheerful all the fucking time — even while going through a one-week training for the lamest job in the world. To make matters worse: a training he'd already taken twice before on the previous years. Alex was tired of his neverending energy in a matter of hours, and the funny part was he didn't even get around to talk to Charlie one-on-one.

Which brought Alex to the second reason. Charlie was a flirt. He unashamedly smiled that pretty smile of his to anyone he talked to, and as he'd been pointed out as a reference by Justin, there were a lot of people wanting to talk to him. (Not that Alex believed this was the only reason, of course. He was fairly sure some people just had the same idea he did to approach him but were faster on the execution. He could tell from the way the girls looked at Charlie from under their lashes, and how the guys laughed at his every joke. Honestly, he couldn't be that funny. These people just wanted to bang him.) 

(Alex thought it convenient to let aside he'd been wanting to bang him too, a few hours ago.) 

His initial interest slowly dissipated as he watched Charlie talk and instruct and joke with everyone, only to be replaced by a thoroughly unimpressed glare. Charlie seemed to like all the attention. He encouraged it, and for Christ's sake, he had to know he was giving those people hope by flirting back with them. With _all of them_ , it's important to stress. What a fucking player.

“I am yet to find someone so self-centered,” he said to Tyler and Jess one night midway through their training, as they ate leftover lasagna at their small kitchen table. “He just stood there all afternoon, basking on everyone else's attention like some weird kind of elvenkind connoisseur, flirting his way into everyone's good sides, _come on_.”

“I'm not so sure he was flirting,” said Jess with a frown. “He just seems to be one of those people who are extra nice to everyone. And on a job that requires that we socialize constantly, I'm sure that's a useful skill to have.”

“Stop defending him,” Alex rolled his eyes. “And honestly, why the fuck does he even need to attend training, if he's done this other times before — and apparently so well to the point of schooling us on what to do.”

“He and Luke like to help those who are new to it to settle into the routine,” informed Tyler. At Alex's puzzled look, he explained. “I talked to them to get some tips.”

“Of course you did,” sighed Alex. In his head, he added, _you traitor._

“They seem really nice,” continued Tyler. “From the little I gathered, there's something involving charity on why they do this every year? I don't know the story exactly, Luke didn't have the time to tell me before that fire simulation.”

“Awesome,” drawled Alex, stabbing viciously at his lasagna. “On top of everything, they're like fucking saints or something.”

“You seem really invested in not liking these guys,” said Jessica, looking at Alex with curious eyes.

“I'm distrustful of everyone who manages to be genuinely excited with a mall job at this specific period of the year,” said Alex categorically. “That includes you,” he added, pointing his fork at Tyler and shooting him a meaningful glare from the other side of the table. “You're on thin ice here.”

Tyler just sighed and poured Alex some more orange juice. He was too used to Alex's moods at this point to start worrying that soon.

And you know what, it would be fine if that was all it was. Alex would just shrug off his almost-crush and mind his own business, but as the week progressed, things took a turn for the worse.

He made one very important discovery that played its part in souring his disposition towards Charlie further. This came from Estela, a shy girl who was just starting at college, and who ingenuously disclosed she knew Charlie for a few years now before she moved into campus.

“He was the one who told me about this job,” she said to Alex and Jessica one evening. “Even though he doesn't need it, his family is loaded. He does it because he enjoys it, which I think is really sweet.”

Jessica smiled and expertly spun the conversation away from such dangerous topics as soon as she saw the murderous look on Alex's face. Alex did his best to conceal his annoyance — Estela seemed a nice girl, and he didn't want her to think his bad mood had anything to do with her. But finding out that rich-boy-Charlie didn't even _need_ to be there — holiday temp jobs were the kind of thing known to be a resource for people to make extra money. _Because they needed the fucking money._ The idea of someone being so spoiled he'd choose to do it for fun — there were so many atrocities in this train of thought Alex didn't know where to start from.

And as if things weren't ruined enough as to how he saw Charlie, there came the cherry on top.

Charlie was extremely competitive. He didn't make any effort to hide this, and he openly embarked on a two-men challenge with Luke, attributing points to the tasks they accomplished while training and proudly announcing their scores at the end of every day. Alex thought it was just a harmless, albeit extremely annoying, friendly competition, until they were all informed, on their last day of training, that they could be granted small bonuses according to how well they performed their tasks during their shifts.

“This whole thing is a shit show,” complained Alex on their break that last day of training. Tyler was running around with the other photographers, trying to learn how they could earn bonuses with their daily tasks, considering they didn't have to do the same routine the other elves did. So it was only Alex and Jessica sitting at a corner, watching as the logistics team built the huge, circular Santa's Workshop they would be working at for the next month. “I mean, just the fact they are using the holidays as a means to make money is questionable but then again, nothing new there. Now this fucking bonus system they only tell us about last-minute, Jesus. As if everything else wasn't stressful enough. This only serves to turn everything into a competition.”

“Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that one,” sighed Jess. “I'd just signed up for some dollars an hour, and that was it. Now they announce they will put up a fucking board with our daily scores on the break room — how am I supposed not to feel compelled into playing along with their rules with that?”

Alex looked at Jessica with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “Excuse me-- I'm mad at the principle of turning it into a money race, and you're considering how you'll score higher?”

“You're mad at everything since the beginning,” opposed Jess, not blinking an eye at Alex's not-so-veiled criticism. “And see, that is the problem of how they made a race out of it. Someone who's naturally competitive, like me, will be lured into their game. Even if I do disagree with it on purpose.”

“Well, I'm glad I'm not that easily corrupted,” said Alex, with arched eyebrows. “I'm not raising to this bait. I'll settle for the initial weekly payment I was offered, fuck this bonus shit. I just wanna get this month over, now more than ever. It was the worst idea to let Tyler talk me into doing this.”

Jessica sadly nodded her agreement, and to Alex's dismay, Charlie chose that moment to walk by them. From the appalled expression on his face, he'd heard at least the end of Alex's sentence. And if that last week had shown Alex anything, Charlie wasn't one to keep his thoughts to himself. 

So Alex wasn't really surprised when Charlie said, “Why would you say that? If you start with this negative mindset, you'll miss out on all the fun!”

No, Alex wasn't surprised to hear that from Charlie. It sounded a lot like the encouraging pep talks he'd heard the other boy distributing to their colleagues all week, all the while rolling his eyes in the background. Alex had never been on the receiving end of one of those talks, though. He'd avoided Charlie like the plague, and Charlie surely didn't go out of his way to talk to him (Tyler the Traitor was good acquaintances with him at this point, though). So that now Charlie had the gall of coming up to Alex with that motivational shit after one week of barely acknowledging him was laughable, to say the least. 

But Alex wasn't in the mood for laughs. He stared back at Charlie in disbelief, and he couldn't contain the sarcasm dripping out of his voice if he tried (and he didn't). “I'm sorry, I didn't know the fun was mandatory. Some people are here just for the paycheck, as shocking as this must sound for you.”

“Can't you have both things, though?” Mused Charlie, unwaveringly optimistic. “Christmas is one of the best things of all year. It's a shame to let this period go by without enjoying it.” 

“Of course it is,” said Alex sweetly. “We all should love Christmas, just because Charlie said so. His perspective is the only one valid. How didn't I see it sooner?”

Charlie frowned. “That wasn't what I meant.”

Alex hummed thoughtfully. “That was definitely how you sounded, though.”

Charlie's smile faltered and his eyes widened comically — or at least Alex was sure he would have found it comic if this guy's current attitude wasn't getting on his nerves. 

And to think he'd found him cute barely five days ago. That's why you should never let yourself be fooled by first impressions. What a waste of good looks.

“I'm sorry,” said Charlie, at last, looking earnest and apologetic, and Alex couldn't give a shit about how he felt. “It wasn't my intention but I can see it sounded assuming.”

Alex shrugged, a low 'whatever' leaving his lips as he averted his eyes from Charlie. Jessica's eyebrows were almost disappearing under her hairline but she didn't dare to say a peep into their exchange.

Charlie opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, in a clear search for something else to say, but in the end, he offered Alex a smile that looked a lot more like a grimace and quickly went back on his way. 

“Holy shit,” exclaimed Jess as soon as Charlie was out of earshot. “You really don't like this guy, do you?”

Alex shrugged, not confirming nor denying. He believed his attitude let it all very clear at this point. 

He was tired when he reached the fitting room to retrieve his backpack. The added journey was costing him some needed hours of rest in between classes and his permanent job at the bookstore. It was probably fatigue that was causing him to have an even shorter fuse than usual. To think the real work at the mall didn't even start yet let Alex one step away from giving up on this temp job. 

To his surprise, when he pulled his backpack from his assigned locker, a plastic wrapper fell from under it. Alex frowned, leaning down to pick it up from the floor. It was a candy cane, the kind they would be delivering to the children in a few days. Only there was a bright yellow post-it glued to it that read _I'm really sorry. Hope this sweetens your day x_ in elegant cursive. 

Alex's frown deepened. He could think of only one person that would have any reason to send him anything as an apology. He rolled his eyes, unimpressed. Charlie was out of his mind if he thought Alex could be placated with cheap candy and a few nice words. 

(He did keep the candy, though. And if he stored the note on his wallet, no one needed to know.)


	2. The Scoreboard

Alex stared in disbelief at the striped pair of tights he held at eye level, waves of regret engulfing him as he assessed the outfit. “Remind me again why did we agree to do this.”

“The money, think about the money,” answered Jessica urgently. She stood in front of a tall mirror, struggling to adjust her green hat in a way that didn't ruin her hair. “Also, Tyler asked for our support. And he did that thing he does with his face where he looks really sweet and you just can't say no to him.” She sighed heavily, giving up on trying to make her hat look cute, and turned to face Alex with a sarcastic, encompassing gesture. “So here we are.”

Alex looked over at Tyler, who already stood in his full elf gear a few feet away from them, enthusiastically discussing lighting and framing and other technical photography stuff with Clay and Justin. “Yeah, but Ty's got a purpose to be here. I mean, he'll be using his skills for this, and he can write this down on his resume as an experience at events or something like that.” Alex waved his pants insistently in Jess's direction. “I'm studying Philosophy. Ugly pants have nothing to do with it.”

“Just stop complaining about the pants and get into them already,” said Jess impatiently, “before you get a strike for being late on day one.” She grabbed the rest of Alex's outfit and walked towards him, shoving the pieces of clothing against his chest. “Hurry up, we have kids to entertain and candy to deliver.”

“I hate my life,” Alex sighed, entering the small fitting room Jess had previously occupied. He undressed, one eye still intent on glaring at the green and red tights. 

“It could be fun, you know. If we keep an open mind,” said Jessica, and Alex didn't need to see her to picture the half-shrug that went along with her words. “From what I've seen of the people we'll be sharing our shifts with, they're all about our age. None of those highschoolers we had to put up with at training. It would be nice to make some new friends.”

“I'm just fine with the friends I currently have, thank you,” countered Alex, voice muffled by the long-sleeved shirt he was struggling to get into. “Though to be fair, it was being friends with Tyler that ended up landing me here, so maybe you do have a point and I could use some new friends.”

“I'm always glad to help you see things in a positive light,” said Jess sarcastically. “What's your elf name?”

Alex's head emerged from his uncomfortable shirt, and he frowned. “My what?” He asked, confused. 

“Your name — there's a tag on your vest with how you're supposed to be called for the next four weeks,” explained Jessica. 

Alex retrieved the green vest from the floor and without a doubt — there it was, a golden tag with black engraved letters that read his elf name. He snorted a laugh through his nose. 

“Apparently, I'm Gingerbread,” he rolled his eyes, amused despite himself. 

“That's not so bad,” pondered Jess. “At least you're not Glitterpants.”

“Who the hell is Glitterpants?” Asked Alex, baffled. 

“ _I'm_ Glitterpants,” informed Jess sourly. “Even though I'm wearing a skirt, and it doesn't fucking glitter.”

Alex laughed at that, shoving his hat in his head and stepping outside the fitting room. “Well, suddenly I've got one less reason to complain. You started out worse than me.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Jess rolled her eyes, coming closer to help Alex straighten up his hat. “And you are actually pulling this off, you know. I never thought I'd say that about you inside a Santa's Helper costume but don't you look adorable?”

“Shut up,” chided Alex half-heartedly. “You're just trying to humor me — and it's not working.”

“No, I mean it,” insisted Jess. “You look very cute, and Tyler is pretty adorable as well. This dress I was cursed with, though,” she said, dismayed, smoothening the wrinkles of her red and green skirt for the millionth time in the last ten minutes. “Is Christmas elf a look that only works with men?”

“Please don't start a protest for nicer outfits for the she-elves,” begged Alex. “We only need to stay here for a month and I want to blend in as much as I can.”

“You might not wanna do that,” warned Jess. “Keep in mind there's an incentive program. Workers who get more points get more bonuses.”

“I'm not lowering myself to this nonsense, I told you,” reminded Alex. “I refuse to take any part in it. And anyway, what could they possibly give us extra points for? What are these bonuses even about?”

“You would know if you had paid attention to our last hours of training instead of trying to blow Charlie's head up with your glare,” scolded Jess, amused. “We get points according to how well we perform our tasks. Playing with the kids, organizing a good line, this kind of stuff.”

Alex arched his eyebrows. “We earn points by how well we deliver kids candy?”

“Did you take a look outside?” Asked Jess in a serious tone. “I could do with some incentive to face that mass of kids — _and_ parents. To be honest, I think the parents will be the actual challenge.”

Tyler caught up to them in that moment, the grin on his face almost blinding it was so bright.

“Did you see how many people are already lining up out there?” He adjusted the strap of his camera around his neck, looking impressed. “And Santa won't even be around this week yet!”

A small smile slipped through Alex's annoyance and he let out a conformed sigh. Tyler looked so fucking happy. He wouldn't ruin this for his friend. “Yeah, it seems like you'll have a lot of work to do when our shift starts,” he noted.

“I can't wait. I love the holiday season,” Tyler confessed. “Did you guys use to go see the mall's Santa when you were kids? I remember my parents liked to take me every year and the candy felt especially good on such occasions.”

“It's probably just your kid's memory, though,” said Jess with a laugh, examining the average candy canes that filled her basket. “But yeah, I hear what you're saying. Christmas used to be really fun when I was a kid. I enjoyed most of them as an only child, though. By the time my brothers got old enough to understand what was going on, it had already lost some of the magic to me. But it was still sweet to see them so excited about Santa and the gifts.”

“I'm dreading having to deal with small children in pairs,” said Alex, looking warily through the glass to the line of people that continued to form outside. “If the siblings we have here are anything like me and Peter used to be, we'll be quitting by tomorrow.”

“Why?” Asked Tyler, curious. “Were you that bad when you were a kid?”

“I was-- well, we were, actually. Peter liked to steal my candy when I wasn't looking and then he'd say I was the one that had eaten all of mine _and his_ ,” explained Alex. “I was too small to put into words how he was being a filthy little liar so I just cried very loudly. Until my parents decided to leave.” Alex paused, considering, before adding, “No, actually I think I cried all the way back home, too.”

“Oh, my God, your parents are actual saints,” said Jess, amused. “This shit would never fly with my dad, the Colonel.” 

“Well, they did give up on taking us to the mall after three years of this same ritual,” Alex shrugged. “We started going to the ice skating rink instead.”

“Did it get any better?” Asked Tyler, skeptical.

Alex's eyes widened. “Oh, it was _brilliant_. Peter couldn't eat his snow cone fast enough without getting brain freeze, so I always scooped his up. I didn't even need to steal,” Alex grinned. “And he was too proud to openly cry because he was such a big man so he just sat in the car and brooded all the way back home without ever saying a word to mom and dad.”

“That's one unexpectedly mean Christmas recollection,” frowned Tyler. 

“His nose always got red — either from the cold or from holding off his tears, who the fuck knows — so I started calling him Rudolph,” informed Alex. 

“No, that's actually quite hilarious, I like how you turned things around,” admitted Jess with a grin. 

“Thank you,” said Alex modestly. “I'm proud to say we grew up and still maintained the habit of needling each other as a special Christmas tradition — though in our defense, nowadays we are much more civil.”

“Well, as fantastic as this Christmas tradition is,” said Tyler with eyebrows raised, “this year we'll be spending the holidays away from our families. I truly hope we can make some good new memories among ourselves.

“God, your holiday spirit _is_ contagious,” said an exasperated Jess. She laced one arm through Tyler's and led him towards the glass to look over the crowd outside. “You might end up making me like working as a mall elf--” Jessica's eyes lowered to the tag on Tyler's vest. Her eyebrows shot up in her forehead. “-- Snowflake?”

Tyler grinned happily, nodding with his head. “Do you like it?” He tapped his golden tag proudly. “I think it's quite fitting.”

“Why does everyone have better names than mine?” Mourned Jess.

“Alright, Santa's Helpers, night shift, listen up!” Said Justin, coming to the middle of the waiting room with a clipboard in his hands. “We're about to open the Workshop to the kids in five. When I call your elf name, please head to the position you were assigned for this first day.” Justin's eyes quickly studied the scheme he had in his hands before he started calling out names in quick succession. 

Alex sighed. The day was only beginning for Gingerbread.

* * *

To be completely fair, things weren't going so badly as Alex had first expected. A lot of it was probably due to the fact it was the night shift — the younger kids usually came earlier. Santa not being at his Workshop yet also contributed to lessening the ruckus to a bearable level. Alex assumed this first Santa-less week would go down like this — mostly handing out candy and showing the families around the Workshop for two minutes maximum.

The Workshop, by the way, after completely finished, had impressed even hard-to-impress Alex. They built it in one of the mall's main squares, with enough space left around it not to cramp the passage with the lines of people that would come to visit Santa. The old man's place was surrounded by toys and pine trees and reindeers, the main structure in the shape of a handcrafted cabin all in green and red colors, with fake snow all around it. There were eight stations around the wooden chair Santa would occupy, each to be managed by one of his Helpers when the big moment of meeting the good old man came.

So far, the only tense moment Alex had to deal with was having two cousins intent on receiving more than one candy cane each. To his luck and gratitude, the parents were likely anticipating something of the sort and diffused the situation faster than Alex had the time to blink an eye. It was pretty uneventful after that.

Once the bulk of the crowd had dissipated, it became easier to distribute the visitors among themselves. Alex wasn't surprised to see the kids chose another elf to chaperone them whenever possible. He didn't hate children but he also wasn't used to dealing with them. He was sure that they could sense this somehow.

It wasn't until the middle of his shift that Alex noticed Charlie. Which wasn't surprising — unless they had to run to cover some kid-emergency (which Alex still didn't have to do and he would like to keep it that way) their positions were pretty limited to their sectors. So it wasn't until a huge commotion started at the far corner of the Workshop that Alex turned around and his eyes landed on a very charming, handsome elf calming down a little girl that was screaming her lungs out on her mom's desolated arms. 

There were a lot of things Alex thought at that moment. The first was that no one should be allowed to look that good while donning an elf costume. Honestly, Charlie's clothes even seemed like they _fit_. Alex was impressed and also low-key jealous. 

(His second thought was a fleeting apology to his mom and those three years he'd made her go through this exact same situation — the embarrassment Alex now saw on the young mother's face was probably a standard motherly expression.) 

And third — how the fuck was Charlie calming that girl down so effectively? The kid didn't even have the age to talk yet and still, second after second, her watery eyes softened as she seemed to be hooked into whatever words Charlie was saying to her. 

Charlie picked up a shiny candy cane from his basket and held it on eye level in front of her. Then he booped her nose with it, and the little girl honest-to-god giggled.

Alex, on the other hand, felt like he'd just swallowed an entire lemon. He was sure he was sulking, which he knew didn't help his case when it came to luring the kids his way, but he just couldn't help it.

“Did you see Charlie with that kid a while ago?” Asked Alex when the hustle of people lessened and he managed to get closer to Jessica on the neighbor sector. 

She looked over her shoulder at him and frowned. “I don't think you're supposed to call him Charlie while we're out here,” she pondered. “If I'm not mistaken, his name is Sugarcookie.”

“Sugarc-- whatever, I don't care for his fucking elf name,” glared Alex.

“I don't think you're supposed to swear either, we may have kids popping up at any time,” chided Jess. 

“Jessica, I swear to God,” said Alex in a serious tone. 

Jess threw her arms in the air, exasperated. “No, Alex, _Jesus_ , I didn't see what atrocity Charlie did this time. I heard some crying but I was having my picture taken when it happened.”

This time, Alex turned fully to look at her, momentarily distracted out of his outrage. “Wait, you got to be in a picture already?”

“Hey,” said Jess, offended, “I know my outfit sucks, okay? But the kids don't really see it! They just see the magic and shit.”

“It's not that,” said Alex impatiently. “I just wasn't asked for a picture yet.”

“Are you serious?” Jessica looked at him, surprised. “But you look so cute!”

“Well, apparently you're the only one who thinks so,” drawled Alex. He watched with bitter eyes as a giant elf lifted a giggling boy in the air and placed him on his shoulders for a picture. It took Alex a double-take to realize it was Luke, under the elf costume. Tyler quickly snapped the photo and Alex was blinded by the flash. “I think I'm falling behind in the race for points.”

“I thought you didn't care about the race for points,” reminded Jess, visibly amused.

“Yeah, me too,” grumbled Alex. “Though I think I care more about how Charlie and Luke are doing so well than I care for how badly I'm doing.”

“Don't sweat it, you'll get the hang of it,” reassured Jess. “You do know it wouldn't hurt if you smiled at the kids, don't you? You look like you want to murder someone.”

“It's not out of the table,” informed Alex, eyes glued on Charlie's sector.

“Alex, you're acting like a child,” censured Jess. “Why does he bother you so much?”

It was a good thing Clay chose that moment to rush at them like a furious goose because Alex had no reasonable explanation for Jessica's question.

“Gingerbread, you're out of your position!” Clay hissed. “You must never leave your position, unless specifically asked to.” He lifted one pale finger energetically. “That's your first warning. Three warnings make a strike, two strikes and you're on storage duty — which, believe me, is where no one wants to be. The two lowest scores of the day also do storage duty, keep that in mind.”

Alex just stared at Clay, hypnotized by the amount of info he was able to spill at once — he still had a hard time believing Clay took this job so close to his heart. Alex's shock won over his indignation in such a way that all he managed was a curt nod before making his way back to his station. After his surprise wore off, though, he was glad it had fogged his mind and prevented him from answering like he normally would. Worse than being a mall elf was being fired because he sucked at being a mall elf.

Except the dreaded Scoreboard was there at the break room at the end of their shift to show Alex that yes, he sucked at being a mall elf. From his group of ten, he made #9 that day — which meant he was about to face storage duty the next day, anyway, strikes or not. It was disappointing to do so badly, even if Alex didn't care about it. The job, the point, the bonuses, that wasn't what bothered him. Being second to last in such a small group, though, did bother him a lot. 

All of a sudden, Alex started to understand that the Scoreboard thing was a smarter move than he initially thought. 

“You'll do better tomorrow,” Tyler tried to comfort him. “The good thing about storage is you never do it two days in a row, at least.”

But Alex wasn't listening. He was watching Charlie and Luke high-fiving each other for getting #1 and #2, respectively, on the Scoreboard. It wouldn't be that hard to ignore if Luke's voice didn't carry so easily. 

“This was beginner's luck! I will beat your scores tomorrow, St. George,” he said, looking proudly to the board where their names — their elf names, Sugarcookie and McFluff — led the ranking. 

“My dude, it'll be funny to see you try,” challenged Charlie smugly, clapping Luke's shoulder as they made their way out of the Workshop together. “I'm on a two years' streak being Elf of the Week on the first week, you better believe I'll fight to keep that.”

“Who's acting like a child now?” Murmured Alex to Jessica. 

It was clear on Jessica's face that the answer she wanted to give him was _both of you_ , but out of consideration to Alex's recent #9, she merely sighed and patted him on the chest. 

Once again, when Alex got to the locker room to retrieve his backpack, a candy cane waited for him on top of his bag. He picked it up with a sigh and examined the note attached to it with tired eyes. 

_Have a nice first day!_ The faintest of smiles spread over Alex's lips. It was ironic that he had to read this now, having sucked so bad at his first shift. It felt almost like mocking, even if reasonably Alex knew no one could have predicted in advance how the scores would turn out to be.

He crumpled the note into a little ball and tossed it into his backpack. The candy, however, he made quick work of unwrapping, trying to wash some of the bitter taste of failure out of his mouth.


	3. The Cookie Battle

Alex didn't think, at first, that the fact he was constantly one of the last names on the Scoreboard would rattle him so badly. Like, _seriously_. Why the fuck should he care? It was just a temporary job — one he didn't even like most days. It wouldn't mean anything a few months from now when he looked back at those dreadful days he had to dress and act like Gingerbread for six hours straight. (Gingerbread, by the way, had quickly earned the reputation of being a very grumpy elf. Even the other Santa's Helpers avoided him.)

What also left him very upset was the fact that Sugarcookie — scratch that, his fucking name was _Charlie_ — day after day landed on #1. Yet another thing that shouldn't rattle Alex so much but truly made him want to pull his hair out. By the middle of the first week, Charlie and Luke had officially turned the Scoreboard into their personal competition. Alex could hear them yelling random scores to each other whenever the Workshop wasn't too crowded — and as much as Alex hated to admit it, they were actually good at what they were doing. Maybe because it was their third time — maybe because they were genuinely happy to be there — the bottom line was that the kids seemed drawn to them, which obviously helped their case and put them one step ahead in the game. 

By the end of the week, Alex had landed on storage duty two more times, and even on the days he managed to stay out of it, it was by a handful of points that he made it out. He remembered himself very clearly telling Jessica how much he didn't care about that stupid Scoreboard competition, but the constant low scores were starting to hit too hard on his pride. 

Alex was forced to acknowledge it was time for some drastic measures. So on that Saturday, when he got home, his first action was to pick up his phone and call his brother. 

“To what do I owe the honor of a video call?” Asked Peter, surprised. “Are we starting on our mocking tradition already?”

Alex pondered. “I think it's too soon — but here, let me give you some ammo for the near future.” He took a deep breath, searching inside himself the courage he needed to admit this out loud to his brother. “I need you to teach me how to be a good mall elf.”

It took Peter at least ten minutes to stop laughing before they could get started on any lessons.

* * *

There was hardly anything Alex couldn't do if he put his mind to it. He had downplayed to Jess how much of a competitive person he really was — challenges did spur him on. 

And the thing is, when he started on this job, being a top-notch Santa's Helper definitely wasn't in his priorities. He just wanted to save some money and support Tyler. Not even that stupid bonus program had been enough of an incentive to push him to be a model worker. 

Then the Charlie situation happened, and Alex couldn't just leave it alone, could he. 

“I can't believe you're making such a big deal out of this,” said Jessica, not even bothering to hide her amusement. She leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, a perplexed look on her face as she watched Alex fixing his hair in front of the mirror. “Charlie and Luke's little competition can be a little annoying sometimes, I'll give you that, but it's harmless, Alex. It's actually funny to see to what lengths they're willing to go just to lead that stupid Scoreboard. Some kid peed on Luke last week and he didn't even flinch. I can't say I see you doing the same.”

“Well, you're about to,” said Alex categorically. Then he thought better of it and added, “I mean, I sure hope not to be peed on by any children but I'm willing to deal with any possible setbacks. I will be this week's #1 by any means necessary.”

“You seem concerningly invested in this,” observed Jess. “What's going on?”

“Jess, come on,” said Alex impatiently. “They don't even need these bonuses! They're doing it all for _fun_. While there's a lot of people here, in all shifts, that could actually benefit from the extra cash-- but no. Some rich kids feel they're entitled to turn a lifeline job into a personal competition.” Alex shook his head, grabbing his vest to polish his golden _Gingerbread_ tag. “Clay and Justin having them as their protegees also don't help any matters to make me sympathetic towards them. They act like they're better than everyone here just because you're doing it for longer,” he rolled his eyes. “They call it _elfing_ , for fuck's sake. Like it's a thing.”

“I get what you're saying, I just don't get why it bothers you on a personal level,” argued Jessica. “You didn't even want to work here, for starters, and now you suddenly want to be the best at it. Even if you still think it's a stupid job.”

“It is stupid,” stressed Alex. “It reinforces all the capitalist bullshit that Christmas has turned into. What even is the point of selling pictures anymore? Everyone's phones have a fucking camera.”

“Sure, but-- I don't think here is the best place to start battling the system,” Jessica raised her eyebrows, amused. 

But Alex was undeterred. “Most of us are doing it for extra cash, then comes this awful Scoreboard strategy to make us compete against each other as a way to make their service better — but in reality, all it does is to foster a hostile working environment,” argued Alex, hotly. “The fact he thinks there's no problem in that and has the gall of acting all nice and friendly while making everyone else look bad does not sit well with me.”

“You do realize you're suddenly talking about one person only,” Jess pointed out astutely. 

“I mean _them_ , they both do that, Charlie and Luke,” said Alex, not playing into Jess's bait. “How are you not upset about this?”

“I don't care?” Jessica shrugged. “I mean, yeah, of course, a lot of it sounds unfair, I agree with you. But about the boys-- we know literally no shit about Charlie or Luke, all we learned about them we heard from others. So maybe we — and by we, I mean _you_ — shouldn't be so quick to judge.”

“Oh, for Christ's sake,” Alex turned his back to Jessica, turning back to the mirror to adjust his vest over his outfit. 

“I think their game is dumb but funny dumb,” shrugged Jessica. “And honestly, I just want my money at the end of the week. Whatever bonuses I make along the way will be welcome but I won't drive myself crazy over it.”

“That's easy to say when you're not landing on the last position every day,” argued Alex. “You don't need to try hard to compete, Jess, you're already in the game.”

“That may be a reason why I don't mind it too much,” she conceded, and then fixed Alex with a knowing expression. “But then again, I also don't have an unrequited crush to make me lose all my rationality.”

“I have no idea what you're referring to,” deadpanned Alex.

“Oh, come on, Alex, like I don't know you,” Jessica rolled her eyes. “You've been ogling Charlie ever since training, and you dodge the subject every time I bring it up. You think I didn't notice? I've known you for years.”

“I did think he was cute,” admitted Alex, raising his eyebrows, “for like, a hot second, before I learned he was so fucking annoying. I only needed one afternoon next to him for my interest to vanish.”

“Yeah, I don't think that's true,” Jessica shook her head. “You're about to put real effort into acing a job you despise just to get back at him. There's no other way to put it. You suck at flirting, and this is your way to get your crush to notice you.”

“Shut up,” chided Alex. “I just want him not to be — I can't believe I'm saying this — I just want him not to be Elf of the Week again. It's petty, it's childish, but it's not a crush.”

“If you say so,” Jess shrugged, clearly skeptical. “Well, if you're done making excuses, we should head outside. You chose the worst timing for starting a competition with Charlie. Santa's arriving this week, the kids will be particularly agitated.”

“I am nothing if not driven,” stated Alex. 

“Believe me, I know how stubborn you can be,” said Jessica, amused. She clapped her hands, rubbing them together excitedly as she announced. “All right then, the Cookie Battle is on! Gingerbread vs. Sugarcookie.” She grinned, and Alex could see that despite her attempt at reasoning with him, Jess was actually having fun with his endeavor. “May the best elf win.”

* * *

Jessica was right about the second week being harder than the first. Santa's arrival put the kids in a frantic mood but the good part was that the time they spent with them individually was cut short. Now they just had to keep them in organized lines before leading them to take a picture with Santa, instead of giving them and their parents a tour of the Workshop. 

Luckily, too, Santa was a very nice old man, and he didn't demand much from his elves — except for, oddly, a fresh, constant supply of blueberry Gatorade. Justin had warned them that some Santas could be real divas sometimes. They never knew in advance which Santa the company would send their way before they arrived, so it was really a shot in the dark every year. 

“This one time, we had a Santa that required a separate dressing room with hot, white towels,” reminisced Justin darkly. “Like a rockstar or something. And we can't just send them back and ask for a replacement unless something really serious happens. Let's hope that's not the case this year because exchanges, in the end, turn out to be an even bigger headache. The Santas are never happy to be replaced, and neither is to company with providing a new one.”

But their Santa was a Nice Santa, much to the whole elf team's relief. Alex especially was feeling very grateful. He didn't need a Diva Santa getting in the way of his plans. So with this side covered, plus the precious tips Peter had given him (he'd have to mail his brother a thank-you gift this year), Alex started to rank up, slowly but surely, from day one on the second week. 

It was heavier work than Alex expected. Jesus Christ, most days he got home so tired he passed out on his bed still half-dressed. It wasn't just about the triple journey — being a mall elf was hard if you were really putting the effort into it. There was a lot — _a lot_ — of smiling and posing for pictures and hugging babies and lifting children into Santa's lap. That week also involved three days pet owners were allowed to take their four-legged friends to meet Santa, and that was an entire surreal experience Alex was still trying to recover from. 

And frankly, none of that was bad per se, but it was all very new and very overwhelming for Alex, who usually preferred to keep to himself. He did find out, though, that having a kid genuinely smiling at him warmed his heart for real, it wasn't just something people said. On the third night, a couple approached him warning him their seven-year-old son was autistic — yet another new experience that left Alex really nervous. But there was nothing for him to worry about.

The boy, Gus, took a liking to Gingerbread and didn't want to leave after taking his picture with Santa only to hang around Alex. Their parents promised him they would return, and Alex honestly thought it was just parent-talk to distract Gus into going back home — until he learned the very next day you don't just make empty promises to an autistic child. They don't forget things easily, and Alex saw the proof of it in the smile the little boy offered him as soon as his eyes landed on Gingerbread.

It was the purest, most selfless display of affection Alex had received in a while, and if Tyler caught him tearing up a bit after the small family had left, he was considerate enough not to mention it.

“I like your new friend,” it was all he said, gently, at the end of that shift. Alex smiled faintly at him. He sometimes forgot how perceptive Tyler could be.

But soft moments aside, Alex was still intent on making his way to the top of the Scoreboard that week. Things had become a little easier after he opened up to the idea, but it still felt out of character for him to be so friendly and cheerful. There were also a lot of small details that never stopped nagging at him — the uncomfortable costume, the mall's too-bright lights, that horrible Christmas tune that kept playing on repeat every second of their shift. And of course, Luke and Charlie yelling their scores to each other across the Workshop every night. Having all this at the end of his day sometimes put Alex in a foul mood but he had his eyes on the prize. At the end of that week, he would have Charlie's two years' streak interrupted. 

And Luke, too, of course, Luke. He would beat Luke too. This wasn't just about Charlie, after all. 

The change in Alex's behavior was anything but subtle — so of course, all the other elves noticed it, especially when it translated into Gingerbread making #1 for the first time in the Scoreboard. Jessica watched everything unfold with barely contained amusement. Tyler was positively impressed. Clay was over the moon with this unexpected improvement, and Justin had no idea what was happening.

Luke was caught completely out of guard, and so did Charlie — but the latter was quicker to recover and even quicker to improve his game to catch up to Alex. And Alex, in turn, went out of his way to find things he could do that would earn him more points. This strategy proved fruitful — by day three that week, he earned his very first #1 — but it also backfired in a way he didn't expect.

The Workshop's positions changed every day and were assigned according to how well the Helpers did on their previous shift. Alex had no way to know this in advance, considering his first week was nothing impressive and he barely managed to stay out of storage. But he learned this very quickly when by the fourth day that week, he was reassigned to the front entrance to stand side by side with the other elf who was also standing out that week.

And of course, that elf was Sugarcookie.

And Sugarcookie liked to talk. 

“So you decided to show up for the game this week?” Charlie intercepted him during their break before Alex had the chance to slip away. His grin was bright, and it made his eyes crinkle at the corners. Alex flashbacked to their first week of training, when he took one look at that smile and thought he was a goner — then he quickly forced himself back to the present, where just the sight of Charlie made him want to roll his eyes. “I had no idea you had an ace up your sleeve. A lot of aces, actually. You're doing great.”

Alex wanted to sulk and snap at Charlie. But they were still in front of a lot of people, and he really didn't want to screw his good position on the week's ranking — so he just smiled back as brightly as he could. “That's so kind of you to say,” he cooed, and even though he kept the joyous expression on his face, he made a point of uttering his words with an extra portion of sarcasm. “What would I have done without your precious tips, I wonder,” he mused and turned around to enter the waiting room.

Unsurprisingly, Charlie followed him, a frown on his face. “But I didn't help you with anything.”

“Precisely!” Beamed Alex. “Seems like not everything revolves around you, for once.”

Charlie's frown deepened. “This conversation is derailing very quickly, and I'm not sure I understand why.”

Alex turned in his heels as soon as he reached the waiting room, the fake joy falling from his face and giving way to the hot rage he was feeling build up inside of him over the last weeks. Charlie's steps faltered and he stopped just short of running into Alex. He blinked, surprised, and then looked even more surprised when he saw the sudden change in Alex's expression.

“Ever since the beginning, you and your perfect manners and your perfect scores and your stupid perfect smile, making it hard for everyone else to just get by-- Jesus Christ, it's fucking elfing, for fuck's sake,” snapped Alex, finally, and a weight seemed to be leaking out of his chest — only there was nothing to replace it, and his overall feeling as he poured his rage out was helpless emptiness. “In two weeks, no one will remember this shit anymore, why do you care so much?” 

“Why do you?” Opposed Charlie, looking stricken by Alex's outburst. “If it's just a stupid, meaningless thing for you, why the hell do you care?”

Alex gritted his teeth, annoyance bubbling up inside of him because he didn't really have an answer to that, did he. He knew it shouldn't bother him, knew it shouldn't rattle him so much. Even at the peak of his outrage, Alex was capable of admitting Charlie had never done anything to him directly. But for some reason, this guy and his behavior did bother and rattle him, and he was not one to let go of a grudge so easily — even if said grudge made no practical sense whatsoever. 

(Even if Jessica insisted on calling his grudge a crush, and Alex was slowly, painfully being forced to see the reasoning behind her argument. But he was also intent on smothering his so-called crush with the same fierceness he was using to beat Charlie on his game this week. He'd be dead and cold before he admitted he was eyeing stupid fucking Sugarcookie.) 

“Fuck you,” said Alex very maturely, not even trying to hide he was deflecting from answering. “I do not owe you any explanation. Just stay on your side of the Workshop, and we'll see the end of this shift moderately in peace.”

That being said, Alex turned his back and stormed into the waiting room. Charlie didn't follow him again — neither did Alex expect him to. But at the end of their shift, when he emptied his locker before heading home, there was no candy waiting for him. 

Alex would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed.

* * *

Charlie made no other attempts to talk to Alex after their last tense exchange. But they still shared the same shifts so it was easy to keep an eye on the other's scores and challenge each other point for point. The Scoreboard that week was a tight one but in the end, after a superhuman effort, Alex finished their second week as #1.

Charlie caught up to him on that Sunday after their shift was over, looking stunned and begrudgingly impressed — and a bit wary of approaching Alex too, but he wasn't one to be known for giving up easily. “So you're #1 this week. I think congratulations are in order.”

Alex was about to grab his stuff to go home. He fixed Charlie with uninterested eyes and opened his locker with more force than strictly necessary. “You sound surprised.”

“I am,” admitted Charlie. “You were terrible last week. I had no idea you could even smile before this Monday.”

The bad joke only prompted Alex to sulk. “I _can_ smile. But I don't deem just about everyone worth of it — which is probably why you haven't seen it before.”

“It's a shame,” mourned Charlie, ignoring Alex's pointed jab. “You look really cute when you smile.” He waved vaguely at his own face, eyes not leaving Alex's. “It's the dimples, I think. No one can resist them.”

Alex wished he could say he wasn't blushing but the warmth he felt spreading on his face was telling enough. There went Charlie, flirting carelessly, the way he did with everyone. Alex didn't know what upset him more. That Charlie was able to make him blush with just one line, or that he probably said the same line to someone else before, maybe even someone at the Workshop. Alex didn't feel anything special, and the thought rubbed him wrong for some reason. 

He needed a quick way out of there, and he needed it now. But when he pulled his backpack from inside his locker, a wrapped candy cane fell from under it. 

Both his eyes and Charlie's were attracted to the small package as it landed on the floor. Alex felt weirdly self-conscious but as he lifted his eyes back to Charlie, he took some pleasure at seeing it was now Charlie's turn to blush, eyes still glued to the wrapped candy on the floor. 

The awkward silence that hung between them let Alex be sure — as if he didn't know before — that it was Charlie that was leaving those notes to him. 

“Well,” said Charlie abruptly, getting his bearings under control again, but sounding far from the easy, reassured manner he usually waved around. “I wish you luck on your next week.”

And then he bolted out of the waiting room, walking as fast as he could without making it too obvious that he was, obviously, fleeing. Alex snorted a laugh through his nose. Making Charlie feel out of his depth was all he needed to finish his good week in the best of moods. 

Or at least he thought so, until he lowered his eyes to the orange note stuck to the candy. 

_I really like your smile :)_

His traitor heart skipped a beat, and even though Alex tried to tell himself he should hate how those words made him feel warm inside, deep down he recognized — now _this_ was the best way to finish his good week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this story fully written already but I didn't have the time to edit and proofread all the chapters before having to travel in a couple of hours. I'll be posting the last three chapters when I'm back home in a few days. I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Let's hope 2021 treats us better than 2020 did (and istg, my main goal for the next year is to become better at planning and managing my time than I currently am, jfc)


	4. The Extra Shifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with the last half of this story! Again, so sorry for the late date. I truly hope you all enjoy how this story wraps up, especially [mirambella!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirambella)

Being #1 on their second week of work gave Alex an odd feeling of pride and self-worth. It also gave him a lot of back pains, and stress, and migraines. So as good as it had felt to rub his victory on Charlie's face, Alex was not signing up for yet another week of battling for the top scores.

“I wonder what was even the point,” mused Jess, staring thoughtfully at Alex halfway through their third week, as she waited for him to grab his phone from his locker. “Nothing has changed. Charlie will still be competing against Luke even if you're out.” She raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. “Do you feel any better now that you beat Charlie for a week?”

“I feel awesome,” countered Alex firmly. “His face the first day he saw my name on the board is something I will cherish for many holidays to come.”

“Jesus, Tyler was right. You do have a very twisted idea of what nice Christmas memories should be,” Jessica shook her head, amused. Then her eyes landed on a shiny package inside Alex's locker. “You're still getting those?”

Alex noticed the candy cane and made quick work of shoving it into one of his backpack's many pockets. “Yeah, it's been happening ever since the training week. At first, I thought it was some kind of gift from our supervisors,” he lied casually.

“Do you really think Clay's the kind of guy who delivers candy to his employees?” Asked Jess skeptically. 

Alex let out a chuckle and shrugged, just wishing Jess would drop the subject. “Not really. But other than that, I don't know what to make of it.”

“Someone's got an eye on you, it's what it seems,” suggested Jess with a grin. “Any idea who it might be?”

Alex almost laughed — by this point, he was pretty sure of who it was that was leaving him sweet notes on his locker every day. He also knew he would never say it out loud, least of all to Jess of all people. She already seemed intent on proving there was a one-sided interest going on from Alex's part towards Charlie. He didn't need to give her more ammo to believe said interest probably wasn't just one-sided.

So in the end, what Alex answered was, “I think you're reading too much into this. It's just candy.”

“Yeah, and you were all mopey and shit the day you didn't get your _just candy_ ,” remembered Jess. “I had to hear about it the entire weekend, how your secret admirer didn't leave you your _just candy_.”

“You're exaggerating,” deflected Alex shamelessly. “I was a bit upset, yes, but I got over it.”

Jessica ignored him in favor to look at the note that still peaked from Alex's backpack pocket, trying to get a glimpse of what was in it. “What does it say today?”

Alex lowered his eyes to the pink post-it. The contents of Charlie's messages had changed over the weeks, ranging from song quotes to cute jokes or funny doodles. Today, a human-shaped sugar cookie held a little poster over its head. The poster had a fucking heart on it. Alex felt the smile on his face before he had the time to smother it — but he was quick to slide the note into his bag again before Jessica could see it. 

“Nothing important,” said Alex dismissively. “Come on, I still wanna get some coffee before our shift starts.”

Jess rolled her eyes but followed Alex outside. They halted as soon as they reached the waiting room, blinking in astonishment at the hustle of movement that unfolded in front of their eyes. 

“What the hell,” said Jess, at a loss, eyes running from Tyler and Estela supporting a girl they faintly remembered from training to Luke and Charlie struggling to hold Santa steady on his feet. 

Justin and Clay ran from one side of the waiting room to the other carrying jugs of water and boxes of meds. Some other recognizable faces from the afternoon shift sat, pale and sweaty, at assorted plastic chairs in the center of the room, and their night shift buddies were already rushing to their positions on the Workshop, even if there was still half an hour for their shift to start. 

“Santa's got food poisoning,” explained Clay, looking very annoyed and distressed, in one of the times he ran by Alex and Jess. “Not only him, the entire afternoon shift has it. Probably some free sushi samples they were offered during today's break.” Clay let out the heaviest of sighs and pointed to the Workshop. “I'll have to ask you to enter a few minutes earlier and explain to the kids Santa had to leave for today. We got a substitute Santa already but he won't make it until tomorrow morning.”

“What about the afternoon shift?” Asked Jess worried, looking at the other Santa's Helpers. 

Clay just waved, helpless, to his sad employees. “We'll see how they do today but probably most of them won't be able to work tomorrow. I'll talk to everyone at the end of tonight's shift but it's very likely we'll have to ask you to cover some shifts at least once.”

“Awesome,” cheered Alex once Clay was gone, and he and Jess were heading to the Workshop. “We'll be doing extra shifts, it seems — how lucky are we to get that?”

“Be thankful we at least weren't doing the afternoon shift,” said Jess, somberly. “I'd take extra shifts rather than food poisoning any day.”

Alex could not opposed to that. 

That night's shift was a weak reminder of their first week, when Santa hadn't arrived yet and the Helpers were the ones responsible to entertain the kids. Only this time the kids knew Santa was supposed to be around, so there were a lot more tears and pouts when the little ones found out Santa wasn't waiting for them at the end of the line. On the good side, Gus and his parents dropped by on that crazy, hectic night, much to Alex's delight. The boy had shown up a few more times over last week but it wasn't every time that he could make it to Alex's station. That night, however, Alex saw the small family made a point of stopping in his line, even with shorter ones to choose from. 

“He wanted to say goodbye,” explained his mom, smiling at his son. “We're leaving tomorrow to his grandpa's place and he wanted to bring you a gift.”

Alex's eyes widened when Gus took one step ahead and handed him a handcrafted Christmas tree ornament — a gingerbread man in brown modeling clay. “I made it myself,” said Gus with a small smile. 

The grin Alex offered in response was huge as he leaned down to receive his gift. “I love it,” he said earnestly, picking up his gift carefully in his hand. He lifted his eyes to the little boy apologetically. “I'm sorry to say we have no Santa today, though. He had to run to the North Pole for a little chat with Mrs. Clause.”

“That's all right,” Gus shrugged one shoulder. “I only wanted to say goodbye to you.”

Alex's good mood lasted the entire rest of his shift. Not even the prospect of doing extra hours the following days, not even having to explain to angry parents why Santa wasn't around — not even Charlie watching him, seemingly interested in his gift he'd hung at his vest button — none of that was enough to erase his smile that night.

* * *

In the end, all the remaining healthy elves were assigned extra shifts to cover for their afternoon colleagues. This also meant that, for the next two days, they were on smaller teams — and fewer people meant more work. There was no time for slacking. Alex ended up swapping two of his days off at the bookstore so he could have his afternoons free — and he was not surprised to learn Charlie would share both these extra shifts with him. At this point, he believed it was his karma or something. 

The extra work took its toll on Alex. It was one thing to do a triple journey — and that on itself was tiring enough — but the extra afternoon shift meant Alex had to stand on his feet for double the time he was used to, and this did him no good for his leg. By the end of his first day of extra hours, Alex was leaning into his good side already, wincing every time he had to lean down to talk to a smaller child. 

It was less than an hour for the end of that damned shift when Charlie approached him.

“Hey, it's fine if you want to call it a day earlier. I can cover for you,” offered Charlie seemingly gently. But Alex squinted, mind fervently assessing what advantage the other elf could get from that. 

Because let's face it — what possible reasons Charlie could have to be nice to him? Alex was being nothing but caustic and standoffish towards him from the beginning, and he knew he was being so because _he aimed for it._ Especially after last week, when their competition had taken a life of its own.

So he arched one eyebrow to his colleague, his voice droning a sarcastic drawl he knew was seconds away from a real snap. “Why would you be so kind to offer me that?”

Alex expected a lot of replies — a nervous apology, a stuttered excuse, a snarky comeback, even silence (although from what he knew of Charlie, the latter wasn't his strong suit). What Alex didn't expect was Charlie to grimace and avoid his eyes as if embarrassed. The sheepish look on his face was one that Alex hadn't seen yet, and what the hell was happening. 

“We've been standing for hours straight now, and I've seen you shifting on your feet over the last minutes.” At Alex's baffled expression, Charlie added, “Tyler warned me it could be tough for you to stand for too long two days in a row.”

Fucking Tyler. Alex was going to murder him. But he would have to leave his gruesome plans to elaborate on later because now all his energy was focused on staring at Charlie in disbelief. “Tyler doesn't know shit. If I took on these extra shifts is because I can do it. I don't need you to fucking coddle me.”

“That wasn't my intention,” opposed Charlie, glancing around quickly to check if there weren't any kids nearby to hear Alex swearing. Jesus Christ, he was such a good elf. “But we'll have to do this same shift yet again tomorrow and I just don't want you to overwork yourself today. I need you in good shape, I can't do the hectic hours on my own.” He gestured to the almost empty Workshop. “It's less than an hour before we have to finish for today, I don't mind handling it from here if you want to rest.”

Alex just stared at Charlie, at a loss for words from the top of his outrage. “I am fine, thank you,” he ended up saying when he recovered, aiming for coolly detached (and landing on stubbornly annoyed). “Besides, we're not even allowed to do that. We gotta make our shifts to the end, you can't just offer to cover for me and that's it. If Clay gets here and sees you're on your own, both my ass and yours will be on the line.”

“Well, Clay doesn't need to know,” reasoned Charlie. “I saw him leave about one hour ago, Justin is the one in charge for now. And Justin's like, super cool. I'm sure he wouldn't mind — not that I think he'll come here to check anyway.”

Alex stared some more, and this time he probably took his sweet time glaring daggers at Charlie because the younger man shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. But he just couldn't make sense of this guy. “Why do you care? It's on me if I can't stand it tomorrow, which I already told you I can. What's it to you if I'm tired or not?”

Charlie shrugged. “It's nothing, really. I was just trying to be nice.”

“Well, you can keep your nice to yourself,” countered Alex, although he sounded more baffled than the usual harsh tone he opted for when addressing Charlie. “I'm good, one more hour will not break me.”

“Okay, suit yourself,” said Charlie coolly, visibly retracting into himself. He walked back to his position and spent the rest of their shift with his back purposefully turned to Alex — for which Alex was grateful. As the end of their month of forced acquaintanceship approached, Alex was starting to panic slightly that he wouldn't see more from Charlie, or read his sweet notes, or hear his stupid laugh that Alex still made a point of rolling his eyes at every time he heard it echoing through the Workshop. 

But Alex didn't want to overthink any of this. He didn't want to consider Charlie was signaling he had a keen interest in him from the beginning, and if Alex wasn't so stubborn and proud, maybe there was still a way to salvage this situation. If he was honest, he didn't even remember his reasons to dislike Charlie so fiercely — yet another thing he didn't dare to focus on. It was easier to just keep on pushing Charlie away for the remaining days they had to share the same space and never think back to him again when this was all over.

The next day, to no one's surprise — not even Alex's — his leg was a mess. He limped towards his position nonetheless because he had a point to prove but his faithful painkillers were stuffed inside his vest pocket in case the pain became too much and he needed a reprieve. 

About thirty minutes into his shift, Alex heard the scraping sound of something dragging on the floor. He turned around to see Charlie pushing a chair towards him, a resolute expression on his face. 

“Just take the damn chair,” said Charlie before Alex could get started on _how dare he_ had the gall of assuming — correctly — that he was knackered. Charlie's annoyed tone also had Alex blinking. He didn't think he'd ever heard anything that wasn't cheerful and light-hearted coming from Charlie before. “I get it, you're as proud as they come, but I can see you're in pain. You can rest whenever the kids aren't around.”

Alex looked from the chair to Charlie and then back to it again — and his calf muscles chose that moment to start cramping, as if sweetly reminding him that Charlie's offer was a good offer, would he please just be a good boy and take the damn chair as he was told. 

He let out a sigh and pulled the chair closer. “Thank you,” said Alex begrudgingly, making a point of staring into Charlie's eyes to convey the message — him accepting his peace offer didn't mean they were suddenly buddies. 

The corners of Charlie's eyes crinkled but he didn't give in to his amusement. “Don't mention it,” he answered simply. He returned to his position with a smile already on his face to welcome a group of kids that approached the Workshop. Alex waited for a few seconds to see if Charlie had it all handled before sagging, gratefully and ungracefully, into the hard plastic chair. 

The Christmas song echoed through the Workshop for the umpteenth time. His calf sang its appreciation for the reprieve in tune with the music, and Alex had fucking Sugarcookie to thank for that.

* * *

Clay was back on business with his usual fussy, vigilant mood, which meant he caught Alex resting while Charlie worked no less than four times (there were more times than that, only Clay didn't see it). A lot of warnings and reprimands were delivered, and then finally strikes for both of them — which Alex thought was pretty unfair because he was the one slacking, not Charlie. But Charlie took it like a champ and was actually the one to admit he'd had the chair arranged for Alex in the first place. He was a fucking saint, and if Alex wasn't feeling bad as he checked the Scoreboard at the end of their shift, he would've given Charlie a piece of his mind. 

He heard footsteps approach and stop right behind him, and at that late hour, he knew it could only be Charlie. “I'm sorry,” said Alex, and he meant it. It didn't matter how he felt about Charlie, he could see the younger boy's performance was harmed by his decision of helping him that day.

Alex's name came among the last Helpers, but he'd been there before. His first week had been full of low scores, so nothing new there — but Charlie's usual #1 was occupied by Luke today, while Sugarcookie sadly appeared right next to Gingerbread at the end, after all the warnings Charlie was given over their shift.

Alex shook his head, dejected. “I know you and Luke have some weird competition going-- this is my fault. You shouldn't have tried to help me.”

Charlie hummed nonchalantly, and Alex had to turn around to check the look on his face. He also had to tilt his head up a bit, much to his surprise. He'd never stood so close to Charlie before to notice their height difference. 

“One day won't be that bad,” he shrugged. “I mean, I'm sure Luke will be over the moon tomorrow when he sees this but I still have some advantage over him this week.”

“You would have been #1 if Clay didn't strike you for helping me, though,” retorted Alex. 

“I would've,” agreed Charlie lightly, unapologetic but not arrogant, and Alex still didn't know how he fucking did it but today, for the first time, it didn't rub him wrong. Much. “How's your leg?” Charlie asked, nodding towards Alex's calf. 

“Not so bad,” said Alex, lowering his gaze as well. His leg felt sore and achy but being able to sit from time to time had helped him feel better now than when he'd arrived. “But I don't think I would've made it through the day if you hadn't insisted that I took that chair, so thank you.”

“You're welcome,” said Charlie, allowing a soft smile to spread on his lips. His eyes were glinting when he lifted them to the Scoreboard again. “So-- we're on storage duty next week, I believe.”

Alex's head swiveled to the board, alarmed. He'd been so focused on their lost points he didn't realize Clay had punished them both with organizing the storage on their next shift. 

“Fuck, Charlie, I'm so sorry,” Alex said, mortified. “You'll lose next week again-- there are barely any points to be made at storage.”

“I'll be fine,” eased Charlie. He fixed Alex with a wary look. “Can I just ask you something, though?”

Alex frowned. He wasn't keen on where this was going but he assumed he did owe Charlie one after that last shift. “I suppose,” he shrugged, trying not to stress over what Charlie would come up with.

“Can we be nice to each other?” Said Charlie, much to Alex's surprise. “We'll be stuck together for hours in that storage on our next shift. I don't know about you but I could do better without having to worry if we're seconds away from a fight or not.”

Alex let out a begrudging smile. “Yeah, sure. I could do better knowing what I'm getting into as well.” He lifted his eyes to Charlie, trying to steer his mind away from the way he'd said _we'll be stuck together for hours._ “A truce it is.”

“Great.” Charlie grinned, eyes once again analyzing their poor score on the board. “Also, it's not like I need to leave empty-handed. The fact that there are barely any points to be made at storage implies there still are points to be made.”

“Charlie, I will not compete with you at storage duty,” deadpanned Alex. 

“Of course not, I was thinking more we could work together and get points for the both of us,” said Charlie in an obvious tone. “I'm sure if we do a stellar job, even Clay will have to be generous with our points.”

“Right,” said Alex, eyebrows raised at Charlie's cluelessness, “let me rephrase that: I cannot _believe_ you expect me to compete at storage fucking duty. 

“You can see that as a way to make up to me,” suggested Charlie, “since you're so sorry and everything about making me lose today _and_ on our next shift. The least you can do is give your best so we can make it back to main duty.”

Alex stared at him with a mixture of shock and amusement on his face. “That's one hell of a manipulative move,” he accused, and he would never admit it willingly but he was lowkey impressed. “What happened to the nice, goofy elf that never steps one toe out of the line?”

Charlie laughed, shrugging without an ounce of embarrassment on his face. “Sugarcookie is off duty,” he informed. “I, for one, have no qualms about guilt-tripping you into being a fine storage worker so I can earn some points.” He looked excited at Alex and grinned. “Get ready for some hardcore labeling, Gingerbread.” He threw Alex a wink before turning around to leave, whistling the Workshop's Christmas tune in a high note as he walked away.


	5. The Storage Duty

“Tyler, for fuck's sake, why the hell would you do that?” Asked Alex, dismayed and horrified and not the tiniest bit amused. 

“I thought you guys had settled things between yourselves!” Tyler flailed his arms, his voice pitched high due to his nervousness. “I didn't think you'd make such a big deal out of it.”

“Why would you ever think it was a good idea to invite extra people to our small Christmas celebration without talking to us first?” Insisted Alex, still eyeing his friend in utter, complete disbelief. 

“Charlie and Luke have no family around to spend their Christmas with, we're all in the same situation,” explained Tyler. “It didn't seem fair to know they'll be all by themselves and not invite them to at least eat some pie with us. And I did talk to Jess,” added Tyler, pointing to Jessica, who sat perched on the couch holding a cup of hot chocolate and watching their exchange with amused eyes. 

Alex immediately turned to Jess, betrayal written all over his face. “You knew about this?”

“I knew he was going to invite some people from the Workshop,” said Jess in a defensive tone. “I didn't know specifically who those people would be. I take no responsibility for that.”

“It's like I don't even live here,” mused Alex, shaking his head slowly in pure astonishment. “No one bothers to tell me anything.”

“Easy on the drama, Gingerbread,” singsonged Jessica, hiding her smile behind a long sip of her beverage. 

“I can take back my invitation?” Offered Tyler, sounding unsure. “If you're so opposed to it. Though I'd really prefer not to have to do it — Luke literally looked like Christmas had arrived sooner when I told him about it.”

Alex sighed and shook his head. “No, you don't have to, it's too late now anyway. I don't want it to look like it's bothering me--”

“Which it obviously is,” murmured Jess. 

“-- but I just can't understand how he even accepted your invitation,” said Alex baffled, and the fact he didn't have to specify who he was referring to spoke volumes. “I mean-- he does know we live together, right?”

“Well,” considered Tyler, “he does now. I told him it would be just the three of us on the 25th.”

“And still he said yes? I can't believe this guy,” said Alex, perplexed. “I mean, _fine_ , we're on a truce or whatever, but he has to know I don't like him. I didn't exactly make a point of hiding it.”

Tyler shifted on his feet uncomfortably, seeming to choose his next words extra carefully. “You might like him if you let yourself get to know him. He's a nice guy. I thought this could be a good opportunity for you guys to know each other better.”

“And why,” started Alex, beside himself with astonishment, “would I ever wanna do that?”

“Because your crush has become ridiculous at this point, and you need all the help you can get with it,” offered Jess helpfully.

Alex waved in her direction impatiently. “Shush, I'm not talking to you until further notice,” he informed. Jessica only rolled her eyes and returned to her hot chocolate, unbothered.

“I think you have a twisted perception of him, that's why I think you guys could use the opportunity to talk things through,” Tyler patiently tried to reason. “Maybe if you let him talk for once, you'd have a different idea of him.”

“Ty, you've known this guy for two weeks,” remembered Alex. “How the fuck do you think you have a full assessment of his personality?”

Tyler frowned. “You don't know him at all and still you think you have him all figured out. How's that any better?”

Alex hated that the words died down on his tongue. He didn't have a smart answer for that.

* * *

When Alex arrived for his shift at the storage, he was surprised to find Charlie already there. The younger boy was perched on the top of a stool, arms reaching up to the doorway that led to the small restroom, fiddling with something Alex couldn't see from his point of view. 

Alex cleared up his throat, dropping his backpack on the floor to catch Charlie's attention. “Good evening.”

Charlie turned to throw him a glance over his shoulder — he did it too fast, though, and the stool wobbled dangerously on its feet. “Evening!” He said cheerfully once he got his balance again, jumping easily to the floor. Maybe too cheerfully, even for Charlie. Alex could see him trying to hide something in his backpack — what he'd been fiddling with in the first place. 

“What's that?” Alex asked with a frown, curiosity winning over his decision of keeping their conversation to a minimum not to run the risk of getting into any fights during their _truce._

“Oh-- it's nothing,” said Charlie casually, leaning down to stuff a handful of something greenish Alex couldn't take a good look at into his bag. “Luke was here earlier, and he thinks he's funny, so. You know.”

“I don't, really. Why was Luke here?” Asked Alex, only growing more curious at Charlie's evasive answer. “He finished #1 last week, he's got no business being here.”

“Aren't you right about that,” mused Charlie, obviously deflecting — and then he clapped his hands, rubbing them together excitedly in the least smooth change of topics Alex had seen in a long while. “So! Storage duty-- you'll have to guide me here, I never did storage before.”

Alex looked at him, equal parts amused and unimpressed at his tactics. But he let it slide because Charlie's smile was distracting enough — and the effect was only doubled when said smile was aimed solely at him.

He quickly let Charlie in on what storage duty encompassed, which didn't take that much of their time, considering labeling candy and separating it into buckets didn't hold that much mystery to it. The problem is, Alex didn't expect Charlie to come through with his promise of working extra hard to get bonuses from storage — because, come on. Alex had done storage duty more times than he cared to admit. He knew for a fact there wasn't much they could do that would lend them an advantage on the general scoreboard. 

Charlie didn't want to hear one word about it, though. 

“I'm telling you,” tried Alex from his chair for the third time since their shift started — after Charlie had urged him to label things faster for the fifth time over the last twenty minutes. “There's no glory to be achieved here at storage. That board will not have your name on #1 today. I'm sorry I made you lose your day here again but hear me out on this one — this is _pointless_ ,” said Alex, waving his labeler energetically. “Literally.”

“How can you say that,” said Charlie distractedly, in the middle of piling up boxes of candy in two separate columns — candy canes and gummy bears. “We've got the privilege of starting all the work here. If we mess up, the elves downstairs at the Workshop could never do their part with the kids.” He lifted his eyes to Alex, looking particularly offended. “Storage duty is so underrated.”

Alex refused to acknowledge Charlie's indignation as cute so he merely rolled his eyes. “It's so obvious this is your first time up here, it's even funny,” he snorted, amused. “How does it feel being on the other side?”

“Oh, it feels fascinating. All the fun is killing me,” deadpanned Charlie. “The only upside is that we don't have to wear the costume while in here.”

Alex frowned, stopping his labeling to look up at him. “I thought you liked the costume.”

“Are you kidding me?” Charlie laughed and shook his head. “It's at least one size too small, I'm uncomfortable all the time. Only improvement we had from last year is they admitted the ears were a bad idea and gave up on them.”

Alex's eyebrows shot up on his forehead — his mind vaguely whispering to him that the tighter outfit did wonders for Charlie's thighs. “There were _ears_?”

“Yeah, the pointy kind, and they never fit anyone and mostly just looked really ugly,” Charlie grinned. “I had headaches almost every shift, it was a disaster.”

Alex shook his head, trying to catch up with this news, and turned around fully to look at Charlie. “But-- I thought you liked working as an elf. I thought you did it for the fun.”

“Who told you that?” Asked Charlie, his brow furrowed. “I mean, I do like it, it's something I still wanna do for some more years while in college. But I don't do it just for the fun. There's more to it than that.”

“Please, enlighten me,” said Alex, trying his best to steer away from his usual sarcasm because _they were on a truce_ and he'd promised to be nice. “Because so far it's been escaping me why a rich kid would ever enter this job, if not for making it into a stupid yearly competition with his best friend.”

Charlie stopped what he was doing entirely to look at Alex, perplexed. “Oh, my God-- honestly, where have you been getting your info from?”

“Well, am I wrong?” Challenged Alex, knowing there was a chance he would receive a big fucking _YES_ as an answer. “Isn't it true that you and Luke don't even need to be here in the first place?”

“It's not, actually,” said Charlie, and this time he was laughing. He took a seat at the wobbly stool and stared at Alex, a mixture of amusement and disbelief on his face. “Luke does need the money, he wouldn't have made it into college if he wasn't on a full football scholarship. And I admit-- I don't depend of this temp job's money to get by. But I'm not filthy rich or anything — I have another job, and I do have my personal reasons for taking this one every year.” He frowned, tilting his head to peer curiously at Alex. “Please tell me this wasn't why you never liked me this whole time.”

“If you must know, there are a few other reasons,” mumbled Alex haughtily, doing his best to sustain Charlie's gaze. 

“You always have to have the last word, don't you?” Charlie rolled his eyes, and the gesture was so uncharacteristic of him Alex was left just staring. “I have no idea how you manage to be so annoying and so damn cute at the same time.”

“You still didn't say anything about your other reasons to be here,” reminded Alex stubbornly because no, he wasn't about to be swayed by Charlie's flirty mood all of a sudden. 

Charlie hesitated and scratched his head, weighing his words. “I never told this to anyone here-- only Luke knows about it.”

“Nevermind, you don't have to tell me anything,” dismissed Alex, turning his back to Charlie to face the candy shelves again.

“Too bad, cause now you're gonna have to listen for once,” said Charlie, aiming a small package of gummy bears at Alex to capture his attention back. The candy hit Alex's shoulder with precision, and it did the work — Alex turned around, outraged, but Charlie didn't offer him the opportunity of talking. “I donate the money I earn every year to a charity that works with kids with cancer,” he said this all too fast, both to prevent Alex from interrupting him and also to get it out of his chest in one go. “You see, my mom had cancer, and Christmas was her favorite holiday. Once she was gone, all of it kind of lost its meaning, and I had to find other ways to relearn how to celebrate the holidays. I found kids were my way to reconnect with it, be it the kids that come here at the mall or the ones I visit at the hospital.” He looked at Alex with an amused expression. “It's my third year as Santa's Helper here but before that, I used to do it in my hometown while in high school too.”

Alex seriously wanted a hole to open on the floor and swallow him whole. “Holy shit,” he blurted out, turning his labeler in his hands to have something to occupy himself with. “I had no idea-- Jesus, I feel so fucking stupid.”

“Well, you had no way to know,” Charlie shrugged, “which is the real shame, in my opinion. I wish I'd known beforehand this confusion was the real reason why you felt so strongly towards me. We could have settled this all down a long time ago.”

“I'm sorry,” said Alex earnestly. “I misjudged you from the start-- I didn't even try to hear anything from your side before making my mind about you.”

“Which prompts the question,” quipped Charlie, grabbing the chance he was offered. “ _Why_ didn't you try to talk to me or anything? What are these other reasons you had not to like me?”

“You were so fucking annoying during training,” said Alex conversationally, labeling some random marshmallow packages that didn't even go into their buckets just not to have to look at Charlie. “And then you were even more annoying when the real work actually started, with your points and your bonuses, and I just wanted to shove your head into your candy bucket to get you to _shut up_.”

“That's concerningly graphic,” frowned Charlie. 

“It should be, I pictured myself doing it a lot of times,” informed Alex. 

“I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to enter this storage all alone with you,” mused Charlie, eyes scanning the walls in search of security cameras. 

“Don't worry, I think you're risk-free by now,” Alex laughed softly. “If I didn't do anything up to this point, I guess it's safe to say I won't.”

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Instead of talking to me, like any reasonable, grown-up person would,” started Charlie, looking a mixture of baffled and amused, “you chose to fantasize about choking me on candy canes, and blow off some steam by actually acing the job. Even though you hate this job.”

“I don't hate it anymore,” stressed Alex, “but I definitely don't like it as much as you do. My elf days are over after this Christmas.”

Charlie laughed. “Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Why did you even apply for it in the first place?”

“Tyler,” said Alex as if it was self-explanatory — and it clearly was, for the younger man only hummed in acknowledgment as if fully understanding what Alex meant. “He hooked me and Jess into this. It seemed harmless, at first.”

“It is harmless,” said Charlie reasonably. 

“I was almost bit by a Chihuahua on week two,” remembered Alex. “She was wearing a Christmas sweater and everything, the little devil.”

“Fine, it does have some occupational hazard,” conceded Charlie, the slight twitch of his lips giving his amusement away, “but it's mostly harmless. And you seemed pretty motivated at some point. You even made it Week's #1 once.”

“I wasn't motivated, I just wanted to beat you,” said Alex sardonically. “Which, now that I think of it, is some weird kind of motivation, I assume.”

Charlie stared at him for a few silent seconds. “You aced your second week just to spite me?” He asked in disbelief. 

“Let's not overanalyze this,” waved Alex dismissively. 

But Charlie raised one hand, undeterred. “No, wait a minute-- you literally went out of your way to smile at children and hug babies, and you did all this just to make sure I wouldn't be #1?”

“It could have been Luke, though,” mused Alex. 

“You're deflecting,” accused Charlie, entertained.

“And you're a pain in my ass,” announced Alex with a huff. “Why are you surprised? Course I wanted to beat you, we've been at odds ever since the beginning.”

“Excuse me, sir,” corrected Charlie, his thin eyebrows raised to his hairline. “ _You've_ been at odds with me ever since the beginning. Up until today, I had no idea what I'd done to make you dislike me so much. I talked to you once and you had all your hackles raised already. I didn't even stand a chance.”

“A chance for what?” Alex snorted. “Why would it matter to you what I thought, you had everyone else here wrapped around your finger.”

“The hell do I care for everyone-- you got to know by this point I've got my eyes on you from the start,” said Charlie impatiently. 

“I know no such thing,” denied Alex, feeling the heat on his cheeks at Charlie's blunt admission. “You flirted with literally anything that moved, how the fuck was I supposed to know.”

“What are you talking about?” Charlie laughed in disbelief, shaking his head. “God-- did we live the same experience over this last month?”

“Oh, come on, you have to know you flirt just as easily as you breathe,” stated Alex categorically. “You walk around throwing smiles and compliments to everyone, it's impossible to know when you mean it or not.”

“Then you're really a silly idiot,” informed Charlie affectionately. “The only person I was flirting with was you. You can't tell me you don't know I'm the one sneaking notes into your locker.”

“Of course I fucking know,” said Alex offended. “But how the hell was I supposed to know they were meant to be anything else? I thought you just wanted to make amends or something.”

“Alex,” said Charlie very seriously, “half the notes had little hearts in it.”

“Little hearts--” Alex sputtered, waving his hands in the air in exasperation. “Is that what obvious flirting looks like in your book? It sounds like some high school shit.”

“Says you, who thought spiting me was a good way to get back at me for things I didn't even do,” said Charlie sounding amused. “Honestly, between the two of us, it's really hard to tell who acted more childishly.” He paused, considering. “Only I did cute childish, and you were more the raging, bitchy type.”

“Shut up, Charlie,” Alex rolled his eyes but there was a smile threatening to break into his lips. And he noticed, with sharp-focused attention, the way Charlie's eyes were immediately drawn to his lips by his almost-smile.

He noticed when Charlie made a tentative move towards him but kept to himself as if uncertain of how Alex would react to his proximity. He noticed the hesitation on Charlie's face, as well as the interest, and the affection and the desire. And he noticed, at last, that it was on his hands to make the first move here, after four weeks of ignoring Charlie and shutting him off.

Alex didn't feel his legs carrying him — couldn't explain reasonably when exactly had he stood up from his chair, least of all when Charlie did too. But in a matter of seconds, he had Charlie pressed against the nearby wall, and their bodies flushed together after so many days of bottled up longing felt electric and hot.

Their mouths found their way to each other like it was meant to be — but to say their first kiss slotted perfectly was a huge fucking lie. There was still a lot of pent up, aimless rage (in Alex's case), and too-eager, blinding lust (that was obviously Charlie) dangling in the charged air between them to allow either Alex or Charlie much caution or self-restraint. Blunt nails scraped at scalps, and fingers pulled at soft strands of hair, and teeth clacked before finding purchase on bottom lips. It wasn't any bit less amazing because of that, though. It was inebriating, and challenging, and spurred both of them to keep on searching more and more of the other, diving headfirst into that new world of possibilities that were opening up to them.

Surprisingly, there was still some part of Charlie's brain operating even under such extreme conditions, for he threw his head back against the wall, as away as he could manage from Alex, and stuttered. “Don't wanna kill the mood but-- I do think I saw a camera earlier. Just a heads up.”

That startled a surprised laugh out of Alex, who pulled away only enough to stare at Charlie with one arched eyebrow. “You know you could have mentioned this sooner.”

“I didn't think we'd end up like this,” admitted Charlie, who despite his urgent warning, didn't make any attempts to disentangle himself from Alex. On the opposite — he peered down at him, the blue of his irises almost swallowed by black, and leaned down to touch their foreheads. “I'm fairly sure they don't mind watching the storage often, though. Clay is too obsessed with keeping everything spotless at the Workshop to care about checking here too much.”

“You lost me with the work talk,” muttered Alex, sliding into the crook of Charlie's neck and pressing his lips against his Adam's apple. He heard Charlie's content sigh, and there was nothing he wanted to do more than to stay hooked into his arms. But he took one step back before getting too carried away, missing the warmth of Charlie's body already. “I can't believe I spent this month angry with you for stupid reasons.”

“We did start with the wrong foot,” admitted Charlie, “but if it wasn't that, I wouldn't have a reason to sneak a note into your locker, and you would never know I was into you.”

“I'm not sure how much of it I believed anyway,” mused Alex, realizing he still found it hard to believe even now, with Charlie saying it out loud, with his lips still tingling from their kiss. “By the way, how did you manage to put the notes into my locker?”

“Uh-- I made Justin tell me your combination,” confessed Charlie with a sheepish grin. “Don't ever let Clay in on that, please.”

“That's invasion of privacy,” said Alex, utterly amused. Until it dawned on him. “Wait, Justin knew about it?”

“Who doesn't know about it,” countered Charlie helplessly. “Tyler has so many pictures of me staring at you during shifts I don't even know how I managed to get any work done.”

“What-- He told you this before or after he invited you for Christmas?” Asked Alex, appalled. 

“You'll have to ask him about that,” said Charlie cryptically. “I had kids coming up at me and asking if Sugarcookie and Gingerbread were a married couple.”

“You did not,” scoffed Alex, disbelieving and amused. 

“I can't make that shit up,” laughed Charlie. He leaned down and shoved one hand into his backpack, where he'd safely stored that green thing out of Alex's sight earlier. “And Luke,” he started gravely, pulling a bunch of it out from his bag, “has been leaving these around everywhere he thinks we may pass by.” He tossed it to Alex, who caught it mostly by surprise — mistletoe. 

Alex stared at the fake, plastic plant that decorated the mall at specific places for couples to take pictures under it. “Where did he even get that many?”

Charlie shook his head, clueless. “Don't ask me that. But don't touch the upper shelves,” he warned. “I tried to stuff most of it out of sight, it'll rain upon you.”

Alex laughed at the warning — he really laughed, like he felt he didn't do in a month, ever since his grudge against Charlie carved up its place inside his chest. He threw the mistletoe (and his caution) aside, stepping closer to Charlie again and tilting up his head to look at him. “Well, you know what they say about mistletoe. It's like, a long time Christmas tradition. We can't oppose to that.”

“Oh?” Said Charlie, looking surprised, but definitely not uninterested, if the way his arms sneaked around Alex's waist were anything to go by. “I didn't know you were one for indulging in holiday traditions.”

“I'm not,” shrugged Alex shamelessly. “I just really wanna kiss you.”

Charlie hummed, the grin on his face bright and delighted. “I can work with that.”

When their lips met for the second time, the frenzy of their motions dulled away and leaving space to more careful, passionate exploration — and it all felt just as dizzying all the same —, Alex accepted the blatant truth that was dancing in front of his face. There was no way he wouldn't want to do this at least one hundred times more. He was a goner, like he knew he was from the first moment he'd seen Charlie's smile, like he knew he was over this entire month when all he tried to do was to shrug off the undeniable attraction he felt for Charlie.

He'd made his peace with it, though. He was officially, unashamedly a goner for this sweet, handsome, desperately annoyingly cheerful Christmas elf.

* * *

(It's safe to say neither Alex nor Charlie scored any points on storage duty that day.)

((It's known to everyone at the Workshop Charlie and Alex spent their last shifts stuck together at storage duty because, for some reason, they couldn't meet their daily goal to make it back to main duty.))

(((It is not known to anyone but Charlie and Alex they found use for Luke's mistletoe by sticking it to the front of the storage's camera. Charlie said he believed Luke would be happy his tactics had worked out, even if in a different way than expected.)))


	6. Epilogue — At last, there was Christmas

That Christmas morning dawned cold and white. It hadn't snowed in a while but the sky looked promising, and Alex wouldn't be surprised if, by the time their guests arrived, they were gifted with a fresh-looking snowfall to celebrate that special Christmas away from home on a high note. 

Their guests, by the way, had increased in number. When at first it was only Charlie and Luke, Tyler had grown the courage to invite Estela too, after tiptoeing around her over the last two weeks. In a bout of boldness, Jessica had also invited Justin last minute the day prior, after they were all finished with their last shift. (“He's not my boss anymore,” she'd offered as an explanation for her sudden move.) Justin had stuttered out his yes — and then added he'd probably have to carry Clay under his wing too, which also meant taking his girlfriend Ani. 

“I can't believe we'll have Clay at our Christmas party,” Alex shook his head morosely. “If he strikes me, I swear to God, I will drown him on his eggnog.”

Jessica laughed. Tyler looked mildly concerned. 

As the hours passed by, there seemed to be more things for them to put in order than they first believed. With the three of them on full journeys over the last month, they had admittedly neglected a lot of house chores. So Christmas found them doing all kinds of unglamorous housework in order to have a presentable home by the time their new friends started to arrive. 

“I've never seen you guys putting so much effort into cleaning,” observed Tyler from the kitchen door, where he'd set out to do some easy recipes, considering he was the only of the three of them with any cooking skills. “We should invite Charlie and Justin more often.”

“Shut up,” said Alex and Jess good-naturedly, in unison. Tyler chuckled and ducked back into the kitchen. 

“How are things between you and Charlie anyway?” Asked Jess, stripping the couch of its old cover to replace it with a new, more festive one. “Can't believe you didn't tell me it was him sending you those notes all this time.”

“I knew you'd make a big deal out of it, and it didn't wanna have to deal with it,” said Alex for the millionth time. “But we're good — I mean, as good as we can be considering we started with the wrong foot. There's a lot we still don't know about each other and there are times I feel like I'm getting to know a different person entirely. But it's not bad, you know? Cause I'm actually liking this new person I'm getting to know better.”

Jessica smiled. “I'm really happy you guys worked your differences out. I've always thought you looked cute together.”

“What are you saying, it's barely four days since we started dating,” scoffed Alex. 

“Oh, Alex,” Jess sighed, patting him on the shoulder. “It's cute too how you still believe you were being smooth about Charlie. I called this from Week 1.” She raised her voice. “Tyler?”

“Called it from training!” Informed Tyler's muffled voice from the kitchen. Jessica's grin was huge, and she threw Alex a look that had _told you so_ all over it.

Alex rolled his eyes at his friends. But there was a small, reluctant smile at the corner of his lips. 

His last personal decorative touch was to hang the gingerbread man Gus had given him on the medium-sized Christmas tree Jess had placed next to their window earlier that week. He was securing it at one of the higher branches when the doorbell rang. 

“I'll get it!” Announced Jess, rushing from her bedroom to the living room, excited. Alex and Tyler exchanged amused looks over her head. 

“Merry Christmas, y'all!” Luke's voice was the first to be heard, and he seemed even bigger as he held in his arms a huge stuffed turkey he and Charlie had insisted on bringing. Estela followed him, a pretty smile on her face and small bags with handcrafted gifts in her hands. Then Justin, holding a bottle of wine, looking dazzled at the mere sight of Jessica. Cue in Clay hand-in-hand with his smiling girlfriend Ani, looking a lot less uptight than Alex had seen him so far. And at last, Charlie, looking stupidly cute in a Christmas-themed sweater, deep red with white snowflakes all around it. He held a large bowl in his hands and his eyes were on Alex before he even crossed the doorway.

Christmas greetings were exchanged, Ani was introduced to the new gang, Justin poured everyone some wine, Tyler and Luke started to hand over plates, and in the middle of all that ruckus, Charlie finally managed to make a straight line to Alex. 

“You do take your Christmas spirit very seriously,” observed Alex with a grin. He stood next to the window, eyeing Charlie's sweater as the younger man approached him with the bowl. 

“What can I say, one of us has to embrace it,” Charlie shrugged, his grin matching Alex's, and leaned down to peck him on the cheek. “Merry Christmas. I made you those,” he handed Alex the container. 

The older boy looked surprised and picked up the tray from Charlie's hands with raised eyebrows. “Will I be embarrassed if I open this in front of everyone else?”

“I sure hope not,” answered Charlie but the grin still placed on his face didn't do much to lend Alex confidence. 

In the end, when Alex opened the lid, a bunch of well-shaped, sweet-smelling cookies waited for him. He peered up at them closely, curious. There were two kinds — brown, gingerbread men decorated with white icing, and round, white sugar cookies with smiling faces wearing a green hat. (The gingerbread men, it's important to stress, all had grumpy faces.) 

Alex was laughing before he even registered his reaction. “I can't believe you-- this is great,” he said approvingly, fishing a sugar cookie from the bowl and trying it. “And they taste amazing too. I didn't know you could bake.”

“There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet,” said Charlie with a smile, delighted at Alex's reaction. He nodded towards the tree beside them, where Alex's first gingerbread man composed the decoration. “Got the idea from your little buddy, though, so I can't take all the credit for it. I saw how happy you looked when you got it and thought it worth a shot.”

“I love them. Thank you,” he smiled, finishing his cookie and leaning up on his toes to kiss Charlie lovingly on the lips. It tasted even sweeter with the sugar Alex still felt on his lips. “I didn't get you anything, though,” he frowned.

“That's all right,” said Charlie easily. “I didn't have the time to look up a proper gift for you either, but I thought the cookies could be a cute way to say goodbye to this first moment of ours.” He took the container from Alex's hands and placed it on the center table nearby in order to get closer to Alex. Charlie ran one hand through his hair, peering down at him with a smile. “So we can leave Gingerbread and Sugarcookie behind in a sweet note, and be just Charlie and Alex from now on.”

“I like your plan,” whispered Alex against Charlie's mouth. He tilted his head up to bring their lips closer, eyes heavy-lidded as he nibbled gently on the younger boy's bottom lip. Alex felt the shiver running down Charlie's body and smiled, lifting his gaze to the younger man, amused. “I feel we have a lot to discover about each other but I'd like it if we'd started on a clean slate. I think just-Charlie and just-Alex is a good way to go about it.”

“I'm glad you think so,” nodded Charlie, “because just-Charlie would love it if just-Alex agreed to spend the New Year with him as well.”

Alex rolled his eyes but the smile on his face was undeniable. “Yes,” he answered without batting an eye. “Of course. I'd love it if we spent New Year's Eve together too.”

“And a few more months of the new year as well,” pondered Charlie thoughtfully. “Maybe all of the months-- who knows.”

“Okay, now you're getting ahead of yourself,” said Alex in what he expected to be a chiding tone but ended up sounding too amused to convey that. He cupped Charlie's face affectionately, smiling despite himself. “But yeah, who knows. Let's see where this goes. I'm not putting any more obstacles between us, that I promise.”

Charlie's smile was the brightest, more breathtaking Alex had seen in a while. Possibly in his whole life. 

“That's all I ask for,” muttered Charlie, leaning down to join their lips again. 

They pretended they didn't hear their friends cooing and clapping and whistling in the background but it was easy not to focus on that. It was easy to just allow themselves to get lost in each other, the way they've been not-so-secretly wanting to do for a while now. It was easy to feel each other's hearts beating the same rhythm from that distance, and that was all they cared about at that moment.

Their story was just beginning. And even though Alex didn't share Charlie's carefree positivity, some part of him — maybe a part that still held on to childish memories and tender hopes — couldn't help but believe they'd been blessed with starting their journey together at the most joyful time of the year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first: Irene, I did try to make this story a higher rating, but I couldn't make it past T. I hope you enjoy how it unfolds anyway!
> 
> Second: it's not essential or even part of the story but I listened to Plain White T's _A Lonely September_ a lot while writing this. It is one of my to-go holiday songs since God knows when, and it holds some resemblance to this fic I didn't realize until I was halfway through writing it. Idk to what point I was influenced by it me but it's interesting now to compare the lyrics with how this story turned out in the end.
> 
> Lastly, I thank you all for reading! <3


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